Five Things That Disruptive Innovators Do Differently

The Harvard Business Review have written another brilliant piece. The article focuses on Chef Julia Child who, although she failed her final exam at the Le Cordon Bleu, went on to bring French Cuisine into the homes of America through her TV show and become a Workplace Design Leader - check out her Shadow Boards in the Kitchen! The article is an inspirational message for anyone.

Here are the Five Behaviours that are common among Disruptive Innovators:

Customer Obsession – laying out ingredients side by side on a cookbook is an example of thinking deeply about the customer rather than focussing on own expertise. Looking at what you offer through the eyes of the customer.

Curiosity – innovation always starts with questions like 'how can we make it better? How can we stand out? How can we get more reliability? Do you ever find that these questions come to us outside of the working day when we are less distracted?

Collaboration – Disruptive Innovators 'know what they don't know' they seek to learn and understand. Working with other people short-cuts that whole process and creates a Catalytic effect.

Willingness to Experiment – Julia Child tried 30 different things before determining that dropping a hot stone into a pan of cold water in the bottom of the oven created the perfect puff of steam for bread!

Persistence – She wrote 'No one is born a great cook, you learn by doing' That's it isn't it? To persevere through the hard parts, let-downs and rejections. Turn these into positives through trial-and-error.

Link https://bit.ly/4psS9uQ

Here are some great Books about Mavericks in Business: Mavericks at Work (Taylor & Labarre), Epic Disruptions (Harvard Business Review Press 2025)